Engineering at a distance
In this 27-minute podcast, Steve Pflantz, former ISA president and subject matter expert for automation at CRB, an engineering, architecture, construction and consulting firm, talks with Jim Montague, Control’s executive editor, about CRB's response to COVID-19, including its increasing use of remote working tools.
Control
Rules of virtual engagement
This 21-minute video, "21 rules for managing remote teams" by Liam Martin, cofounder and CMO of Time Doctor, presents many suggestions for optimally handling staffers working online and at a distance, such as: compensate for in-person interaction; maintain a constant virtual chatroom; avoid email and chat overload after the end of workdays; strive for information-rich interactions by using video and video conferencing whenever possible; establish a regular meeting schedule and project management system; and others.
21 tools for collaboration
The blog post, "Coronavirus crisis: 21 tools to help you work remotely" by Andriy Bas, cofounder and team lead at Uptech, consists of good summaries and links to many of the most prevalent software devices for online collaboration. Project management tools include Trello, Asana and Monday.com. Messengers include Slack, Mattermost and Microsoft Teams. Document exchange and collaboration include G Suite, Microsoft Office 365 online, Bit.ai, Notion, Dropbox Paper and Box. Video conferencing includes Zoom, Skype, Whereby and Google Hangouts. Remote desktops include TeamViewer, Splashtop, and Microsoft and Apple's native solutions.
DIY home workspace
This eight-minute video, "DIY home office and desk tour—work from home setup" by Matthew Encina covers the basics of cleaning up and organizing a home office, rehabbing a desk, choosing a chair, installing shelves and organizers, managing cables and wires, and setting up computers and accessories.
Good onscreen impression
The four-part series of two- and three-minute videos, "Working remotely: a pro tips series with Mark Strassman" presented by GoTo, covers the basics of equipment and presentation remote workers need to meet and interact with others successfully online. It covers audio equipment, basic lighting, dedicated workspace setup, establishing work/life boundaries, and nurturing relationships with remote coworkers and clients.
50 remote work tools
This blog post, "50 must-have remote working tools and apps" by Pawan Kumar at Social Media Today, provides links to a wide range of project and task management tools such as Assemblia, Basecamp, Podio, Taskworld and Wrike; work management devices like Workfront, Airtable, Paymo and Scoro; team communication and collaboration tools such as Slack, Aircall, Dropbox, Skype, Workplace by Facebook, Pukkateam, Zoom, Float and ZenKit.
Getting along online
This four-minute video, "Optimizing virtual teams" by professor Leigh Thompson, Kellogg School of Management, covers four of the basic functions and skills required to setup and run an online team—test the technology, schmoose or lose, humanize members, and looks in the mirror. Some requirements are obvious such as having communications up and running, but they're also unexpectedly essential because if one participant's screen doesn't, it can impact the whole group's effectiveness.
Tale of two covers
Two recent Control cover articles, "Knowledge on demand," May '18, and "Take it with," Aug '18, explore many portable and mobile technologies that can be used for working remotely.
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